The Course of Parosmia Improvement in Patients with COVID-19 in Iran

Background and Objectives: Smell disorder such as dostorted olfaction (parosmia) is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the improvement of symptoms of parosmia in patients with COVID-19 in 2020.
Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in summer and spring of 2020 using a data collection form which was validated with Cronbach's alpha of r=0.826. The study was done in an international health center in Tehran. To report descriptive results, mean, standard deviation, absolute frequency and absolute frequency percentage, and for analysis, independent t-test and chi-square test were used using SPSS software version 16 and the significance level was considered to be 0.05.
Results: In total ,350 patients participated in the study, the prevalence of parosmia in patients was 15.14% and the mean and age deviation of patients was 32.71 ± 10.93 years. There was not a significant relationship between parosmia and gender (p value=0.317), age (p value=0.271), previous history of allergic symptoms (p value=0.083), family history of the disease (p value=0.638), taste disorder (p-value=0.768), and smoking (p-value=0.558). 31 cases (58.49 % of Patients) with parosmia had complete remission within 4-6 weeks.
Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of olfactory disorders, especially parosmia in patients with COVID-19, parosmia and other olfactory disorders can be used to screen and triage patients with COVID-19, especially moderate and mild patients. Patients with parosmia should be followed for at least 4 to 6 weeks and if they do not recover for up to 12 weeks, they should be referred to ENT specialists for more specific measures.